A New Lesson
by Beautiful Midnight
Summary: When Rika hints that she's dating an 'older man', she can't possibly mean Terada-sensai.. and can a teacher and a student live happily ever after, or will tragedy strike like with Amamiya Nadeshiko and Kinomoto Fujitaka?
1.

Children rushed out of Tomoeda Elementary School as if the building was on fire, but it was an entirely different reason. Summer vacation. Shouts of "Sayonara!" were heard, and in one classroom, four girls hung around, chattering happily. Their teacher watched on, keeping his eye on one girl in particular.   
  
"Rika-chan, come on!" One girl called, wearing huge round glasses, slinging her backpack over one shoulder. Rika nodded, walking to the desk and setting a small bag in front of the teacher.  
  
"Terada-sensai.. I..brought these for you." She said softly, a shy blush stealing across her cheeks as the man smiled at her. He seemed to be in his early twenties, with spiked blonde hair and warm eyes.  
  
"Thank you, Rika-chan.. "  
  
"Ano.. I .. I was wondering.. "  
  
Yoshiyuki Terada looked up from his paperwork. "Yes?" He put some of it into his briefcase before putting his coat on, making sure the other students were out of hearing range.   
  
"We...were you going to be busy this summer?" She asked quietly. Terada chuckled.  
  
"I was going to ask.. would you like to come for dinner tonight?" He leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek, noticing the small engagement band on the girl's finger. He smiled, glad that she still had it on. Rika practically beamed and nodded.  
  
"Hai, I will! I'd love to!"  
  
He smiled at her, his eyes conveying the emotion that he wasn't supposed to feel: love. "You know.. You really will make someone a good wife, Rika-chan.. " Their eyes met as they looked to the ring, and Rika remembered when he gave it to her, telling her to make sure not to lose it until 'it became a wedding ring', and she was completely ready to keep that promise. He kissed her again, running a hand over her cheek. "Ja ne."  
  
"Ja ne, Terada-..sama.." She whispered, smiling as she saw Terada blush furiously, nodding to Sakura and the other girls.   
  
"Come on, Rika-chan, we're all going to the park!"  
  
Rika nodded faintly and walked ahead of them. Chiharu frowned a little. "Rika-chan's been acting strange lately." Tomoyo, who had the camera intensely focused on Sakura-chan's "embarassed face" (which was cuter than her 'angry face' or 'baton-onto-the-head face') didn't notice.   
  
"I wonder if this has anything to do with that 'older man' she's dating." Sakura said thoughtfully, remembering how Rika had said 'dear' when the illusion card had shown the girl's true love.. Who did it show her? Rika sighed happily, finally noticing that her friends were a little bit behind her.   
  
"Let's go! Summer vacation!" She giggled, running further down the path. Never ones to let down the challenge, the other four girls ran after her, giggling.  
  
  
  
  
A/N: o.o I told you I'd do it!! *manical laugh* Finally.. Anyway, Read/Review, give me some comments here. 


	2. 

Sakura blossoms lined the street as Rika walked slowly, holding a small parcel of sweets in her hands, looking to see if anyone was following her. It was a beautiful summer evening, and the scent of the flowers hung heavy in the air. She had spent the evening with Sakura and the others in the park, and then gone home, but her parents were both working late, so she just left a note that she was staying over at a friend's house.. It wasn't really a lie..   
  
She stopped in front of a house, looking inside the window, seeing all the lights on, and she smiled, walking up the steps and pressing her index finger once against the doorbell. There was no response after a few minutes, but before she could ring again, Yoshiyuki Terada answered the door, wearing a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and a white apron. He smiled warmly, causing Rika's heart to flutter.   
  
"I'm just finishing the stir-fry, come in." He walked back to the kitchen amidst sounds of sizzling food, the scent filling the house and clashing with the flowers from outside. Rika slipped her shoes off and walked in, looking at the candlelit table, blushing faintly. She walked over and set the little parcel on the counter, watching her dear Terada-sama for a while. He turned, smiling at her again before putting the food onto two plates, bringing them to the table. Rika sat next to him, and was aware of him watching her now. He reached over and brushed her hair out of her face. "You look nice." He said softly.  
  
"Thank you.. so do you..." They both ate in considerable silence, enjoying just the feeling of being this close to each other and not having to worry about other people for the time being. After, she helped him with dishes, feeling almost giddy.. It was just like being a wife.   
  
When they were done, he sat down on the couch, turning on the television, and she sat down with him, leaning against his chest and blushing a little as she felt his arm protectively wrap around her shoulders.. Terada looked down and for a moment, felt a pang of guilt. He was old enough to be her father.. He shouldn't be in love with this girl.. one of his students..But he was, no matter how much he tried to fight it.  
  
His eyes looked down to the ring on her finger, and he couldn't help but smile.. It had cost a lot of money to buy that, but seeing it there.. it was worth it. He reached down and brought her hand into his, kissing it gently, watching her blush. "Ai shiteru." He said quietly, holding her in his arms.  
  
It was like a dream.. Rika sighed happily. "Ai shiteru, Terada-sama.." She leaned more into his embrace, still paying a little attention to the movie, but not as much attention as she was giving him. She kissed him lightly. "I should get home... it's late, my parents will be home soon."  
  
He nodded and stood up, walking outside, standing with her in the cool breeze for a moment, he kissed her good night and walked her home, keeping out of sight of Rika's house in case her parents should see him and question why he was with her.   
  
They both lay in their seperate beds, both staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the other person with a floating heart..now that school was out, they'd have more time to spend together, at least.."Good night, Rika-chan.." He murmured before he fell asleep.  
  
Rika yawned and closed her eyes. "Good night, dear."  
  
  
  
  
Sakura looked over at Kero-chan, yawning softly. "..and whenever we asked her who the 'older man' was, she'd blush and change the subject.. "  
  
"Well, everyone has secrets." Kero-chan shut off the lights and curled up on Sakura's pillow. "Good night, Sakura-chan."  
  
"Oyasumi, Kero-chan." She closed her eyes, promising to herself to figure out who the 'older man' was by the end of the summer..she was one of Rika's best friends.. she had to know! 


	3. 

It was still quiet at Tomoeda Elementary, and in the staff room, the teachers were milling about, drinking coffee and chatting about students that weren't exactly perfect, and sadly, they were getting more abundant. However, there was a rumor that the teachers were passing around..  
  
Yoshiyuki Terada was dating one of his students. Some of them heard that he and the student were actually engaged, but no one really believed that. Well, a few did..but no one knew which student it was..  
  
The chatting stopped as Yoshiyuki walked into the lounge, setting his briefcase down and pouring himself a cup of coffee.  
  
"Ohayo." He said with a nod to the other teachers, finishing his coffee just as the bell rang. Some of the other teachers managed a weak 'Ohayo', still not sure how to react to this..they had almost all heard about Kinomoto Fujitaka.. the college professor who had married one of his 16-year old students..but this was different.  
  
They all watched him leave, and as the door shut, the chatter continued. Yoshiyuki sighed quietly and shook his head.. How did they find out?  
  
  
The classroom went silent as he walked into it, and he felt a pang in his heart as he was reminded of the teacher's lounge. "Ohayo."  
  
"Ohayo, Terada-sensai." The children chorused happily. Terada looked around to make sure everyone was there, and nodded. Two exchange students from Hong Kong in one year..very strange.  
  
"Let's get on with our lesson." He set his books down, meeting Rika's glance, his heart jerking in his chest for a moment. She blushed and looked down. Terada cleared his throat and somehow got back to what he was supposed to be doing.  
  
  
"Rika-chan!" Sakura yelled cheerfully as she ran over to the girl during cheerleading practice.   
  
"Konnichi wa, Sakura-chan." Rika smiled  
  
"I need to ask you something."  
  
"Hai."  
  
"You're dating an older man, right?"  
  
Rika got a dreamy look in her eyes that Sakura had begun to notice. "Hai.."  
  
"Can ..you tell me who it is?"  
  
The dreamy look evaporated and Rika quickly shook her head. "No.. I can't. Not yet."  
  
"Please?"  
  
"No." She turned away abruptly, causing Sakura's face to register a hurt look. "Oh.. Sakura-chan.. I'm sorry..but I can't.. please understand."  
  
Sakura nodded weakly. "I do.. Ja ne, Rika-chan." She ran off to join Chiharu and Naoko, leaving Rika alone. She sighed.. She wanted to tell everyone who it was, but they weren't going to tell anyone yet..  
  
"I just hope you'll be my bridesmaid, Sakura-chan.." She murmured, pondering how long it would take Tomoyo to make a bridal gown..A familiar blush spread across her cheek and she allowed herself to giggle. Terada Rika.. Someday. 


End file.
